Know how the markets closed today

Indian stocks resumed their upward trek on Friday, hitting their highest since August 21st, after a strong rally on overseas markets and better earnings locally helped traders extend long positions. Banking, Pharma and Energy stocks were in demand.

The Nifty locked in gains of 44 points to end the week at 8,295 points. Axis Bank, ITC, Cairn, GAIL and NTPC were top gainers on the index while Idea, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, Vedanta and Maruti slipped in trade. The Nifty's Advance-Decline Ratio stood at 33/17 and Dr. Reddy's, Axis Bank, and Larsen & Toubro were the top traded stocks on the National Stock Exchange.

Broader markets posted modest gains as well with the CNX 100, CNX 200 and CNX 500 indices rising 0.3 percent each. Mild profit booking was seen on the mid cap and the small cap indexes. The trend was mostly positive in the sectoral space with strong gains seen on the Bank Nifty, CNX PSU Bank and CNX Finance indices. The CNX Pharma index was up modestly, as were benchmarks tracking the FMCG and Energy sectors. A bit of selling pressure was observed on the Metals and media space.

The mood was upbeat on the Bombay Stock Exchange where the Sensex roe 183 points, or 0.7 percent, to 27,470 points. Tata Motors, Cipla and Lupin were among winners while Wipro, Hero Motors and Sun Pharma fell below their previous closing prices. The Advance-Decline ratio stood at 20/10 on the Sensex and Axis Bank, HDFC and HDFC Bank were the top traded stocks on the Index.

Bulls surrendered their lead in the broader market with just 1,292 shares gaining compared with 1,421 that fell.

The trend was flat on the derivatives space with the gainers matching the losers in count. Midcap futures gained with strong upticks seen on Cadila Healthcare and Syndicate Bank. Futures of IFCI, Motherson Sumi and I B Real Estate lost ground.

3M India, KPIT Technologies and Container Corp of India made it to the top volume buzzers chart on the National Stock Exchange.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)